England captain Stokes confident of bouncing back against South Africa at Old Trafford
England collapsed in the second innings to 149 all out having started the second innings requiring 161 runs to take the game into the fourth innings.
Despite previously chasing down high totals with relative ease earlier in the summer – including 378 to beat India – England slumped and were unable to take the game even into the evening session.
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Hide AdIt was the first loss England have suffered since Stokes and Brendon McCullum were appointed following a dismal winter and a run of just one win in 17 Test matches.
The teams meet again in the second Test at Old Trafford, starting in Manchester on Thursday, and the England captain said: “Everyone’s so aligned in the dressing room, from the management to the players, on how we operate.
“Captains and coaches are always going to get criticised. (It’s) part and parcel of doing this role. We’ve got a certain way we want to play. We know we can be an incredibly hard team to play against if we execute that, hard to beat.
“We can’t be great every day. This week was just off for us. But we’re not going to hold on to it for too long and carry any baggage to Manchester.”
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